A World Away
by SparkleNinja
Summary: Caitlyn is a regular teenage girl, who is thrown into a world that she thought only existed in her books. Join her as she meets some of our favourite people and learns about their world for herself.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this, it's an idea I've had for a while now. Let me know what you all think :D**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Harry Potter**

**Enjoy!**

I tried to shift my bag onto a more comfortable position as my shoulder started to ache. My arms were full of pillows and my pale purple bedcovers were piled so high I could only just see over them.

I stumbled my way to the front door, tripping over one of the plant pots on my way. I cursed under my breath as my foot ached from the crash.

Typical. Where was Mum when I needed her?

I eventually reached the front door after having to jump up the step to the porch because one of the pillows was slowly sliding out of my grasp. With some amazing manoeuvres I managed to grab the runaway pillow with my knees. But even though it was such a ninja-like move, it actually made walking, or even movement of any sort, difficult and slightly dangerous. If I didn't get into the house soon there was going to be a duvet avalanche.

Throwing part of the covers over my shoulder so that I could move my hand towards the door I grasped the door handle and threw the door open.

"Mum!" I shouted waddling into the hall, "Help!"

There was a clang of pans from the direction of the kitchen and a sigh followed by a flurry of movement.

"Caitlyn, I am busy you know. I'm trying to keep up with the washing from last week and the dishes just keep piling up." The covers swayed in my grasp and the corner I had thrown over my shoulder was now pushed up against my nose in an attempt to keep a hold of it. It seemed my nose wasn't solid enough to support the duvet, so I grasped in my teeth in a last ditch attempt.

A woman walked through the kitchen door way with her hands of her hips, shaking her head in a kind of 'what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you' gesture.

Ah Mum.

She looks quite a bit like me. Or I suppose I look a bit like her. Whatever. We supposedly have the same build, face-shape and mannerisms. I can't say I can see it though personally. But that doesn't mean anything because apparently I have my Dad's nose. And dear God, if I really do I should be able to block the sun with that thing. So I'm pretty sure I don't. Either that or I have the same nose as him, but in half the size.

Unlike me, she has short brown hair in a grown out bob style. I've heard that I inherited my hair colour from some long-lost grandma or something. My hair's a kind of honey colour. Like a mix of blonde and brown. It's a difficult one to put a name to because some people call it blonde, others brown. Me, I just go along with whatever everyone else calls it.

She also has light blue eyes, which she's passed onto my little brother. They're such a clear blue that they stand out against her dark hair. My Dad has plain brown eyes. When he laughs they shine and when he smiles they look so warm. I think my eyes are slightly like my Dad's. He says they're from his side of the family at least. They're a light hazel. I love my eyes because like opals you can see so many different colours in different lights.

I smile at her outfit today. She's obviously been doing some kind of exercise. I'd say aerobics or yoga because she's wearing some royal blue Lycra pants and a massive white t-shirt.

Luckily she can't see my grin because I'm being smothered by the duvet.

"Muuuuuum!" I whine, which comes out rather muffled and distorted. She just keeps walking towards me, rambling on as she goes, obviously not noticing that her one and only daughter is about to be crushed by a mountain of bed covers.

I attempted to take a step towards the stairs so that I could dump the load. As I lifted my foot from the floor, the pillow restricted the movement and tried to pull me back. This caused me to wobble. Then I felt a tremor travel through Duvet Mountain.

Oh dear. This was it. I was going to die dramatically and tragically from a tonne of covers and pillows, as my own mother watched on, lecturing me about doing my chores.

The bedcovers toppled over after a sway too many. And of course, I went toppling with them. I landed flat on the floor with an "Oomph" as the remaining pillow _flumped_ onto my head along with half the covers.

Oh it hurt. I'd landed on my bag. And I must admit I hadn't noticed before how many hard, pointy things I'd packed in there. They would definitely leave a mark.

I pushed the pillow off my head, which proceeded to fluff up my hair on its way, and glared up at my mum who was now stood directly in front of me. The corners of her mouth were turned up and twitching, holding back her laughter, trying to look stern with her arms folded across her chest.

I puffed my cheeks out, blowing the hair out of my face. I continued to glare as giggles escaped her lips and her grin grew. I huffed my annoyance, she was being maddeningly unhelpful.

"Oh Katie, what am I going to do with you?" she chuckled to herself, leaning back as though to get a better look.

"Oh, I don't know... help me up?" I threw an arm in the air and waved it around, waiting for some assistance.

With one last chuckle she grabbed my arm and heaved me up, as I tried to head butt the duvet out of the way.

As I landed on my feet, I turned, assessing the damage, and with a sigh started collecting my belongings.

"Did you have a good time at Georgie's?" Mum asked, as she assisted me in piling my arms back up.

"Yeah, it was loads of fun. We stayed in our pyjamas for the whole weekend. And we watched an old Johnny Depp film that I'd never even heard of before, with lots of popcorn of course. And on the first night we all made some cookies and home-made face masks."

"I'm surprised you didn't blow the house up," she smiled.

"I think we nearly did. The popcorn looked in danger of exploding everywhere. The kitchen was a right mess once we'd finished," I smiled to myself, remembering the mess we rediscovered the next morning. The counters were coated in a solid layer of fruity slop. It took almost an hour to scrape off. Our best cleaning utensil was a spatula. Suffice to say, the face masks were more trouble than they were worth. All the appliances had been left with a fine layer of flour on them, which had resulted from the flour fight when we'd finished our third attempt with the cookies.

"Well, go put your bed things back and then you can do what you like for a bit. I'll call you down for lunch in half an hour," I raised an eyebrow. After all it was two o'clock,

"We're having a late lunch today, so that you and Lukie can eat together," I nodded and with that she turned and walked back into the kitchen, humming to herself a cheerful little tune.

I staggered up the stairs, this time leaving my bag near the door. At least that was one less thing to carry. I kicked open my bedroom door and launched everything back onto my bed, where it belonged. After making my bed a bit neater I grabbed a book off my shelves and decided to do a bit of reading before lunch.

With a smile I realised I'd picked up _Harry Potter and the Order and the Phoenix._ Out of all the books that one is my favourite, definitely. I love the secrecy and rebellion of the DA, and the constant fighting against Umbridge.

A while later mum called up for lunch just as I was getting to the day of Harry's trial. I left the book laid open on my bed, so that I could quickly find my place when I came back up.

I was stood at the top of the stairs when a boy came barrelling out of the room down the landing and charged down into the dining room. With a bemused smile on my face I followed him at a much slower pace. When I reached the dining room my little brother was already sat at the table piling up his plate with little sandwiches. He looked up with big blue eyes when I walked through the doorway.

"Come on Cat! I'm starving!" he moaned.

I complied and sat opposite him, filling up my own plate.

"Luke," my mum admonished, "slow down. Don't you go stuffing your mouth. It's bad mannered."

He gave her a cheeky smile and started chewing slowly.

Luke is ten, nearly eleven, but he is still my baby brother. This means that I reserve the right to tease him senseless. If anybody else tries this then they receive an earful courtesy of moi. He has very light, feathery fair-hair, quite like my Dad's when he was younger. Other than all the teasing I do and the occasional arguments we get on really well.

"Mum," I called once we'd finished the lunch she'd made for us, "I'm thinking I might go out for a walk. I'm feeling a bit restless at the minute."

"Sure," she called back, "make sure you're home before dark. Take your phone. And your Dad should be home before six."

"Cool, see you Mum!" with this I grabbed my bag from the bottom of the stairs and set off.

I couldn't be bothered sorting out my bag until it was really necessary. Anyway it had everything in it that I could possibly need. It had my phone, my key, my purse and, in the case of an emergency, the ultimate accessory, my toothbrush.

By the looks of things I was lucky to have thrown an umbrella in there two nights before, because it looked as though the heavens were about to open any second now. It had been quite a nice breezy day earlier, but now there were heavy purple clouds quickly approaching.

I carried on walking, thinking about heading towards the park and then back. It was nice just to get some fresh air and have some time to myself after a weekend with the girls at Gee's house.

I heard a deafening crash, followed by a flash of lightning. Not exactly a great situation to be in. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love thunder storms. It's just that I prefer to be inside when they happen.

I looked up to see the creepy dark clouds were looming over head. Great. Another second and the heavens opened, dumping what seemed to be a whole bath-full of water on me and the surrounding areas. It was a torrential downpour that just seemed to get heavier and heavier as I fought to put my umbrella up.

Once I'd managed to get it up I realised my next challenge. The storm had brought 70 mph winds with it so I had to battle to keep my brolly from going inside out. By this point I should have left it as a bad job because I was cold, drenched and struggling to walk in a straight line with the brolly up. But to be honest with you, I was being stubborn. There was no way I was going to give in to the elements without a fight. I didn't want to give up, so I continued to wrestle with my umbrella, being pushed and pulled by the unforgiving gusts.

It was getting dark as the clouds got thicker. Weird because I hadn't been out for over an hour, which meant it wasn't even five yet. It was getting hard to see as the rain blurred my vision and I was being yanked from side to side. I was being pushed, harder and harder, making me spin faster and faster. I was completely out of control. There was no way I could stop.

I could almost feel my feet being lifted off of the ground as I my futile attempts to stop the umbrella got weaker. Panic was leaking into my mind as my determination started to fade away. I was way out of my depth.

Faster and faster, I couldn't breathe. Darker and darker, what was I going to do? Lost in the strength and panic of the storm.

There was a sickening crack and a sharp pain in the back of my head as I crashed against something solid for less than a second.

My thoughts become jumbled and less coherent as the light began to fade.

I sighed and let go of my umbrella.

Then all was black.

"Now Harry my boy, I apologise for having to take keep you away from Grimmauld Place this summer," an elderly white haired gentleman was seated behind a grand old desk, leaning forward to look at the boy in front of him.

His crooked nose supported half-moon glasses that framed twinkling blue eyes. He was dressed in the most peculiar outfit. A robe of midnight blue with dazzling stars and planets on it that really seemed to blaze and spin. He had completed his ensemble with a matching pointed hat that was sat in front of him on the desk.

The great Albus Dumbledore paused for a moment and continued "you see, after the incident at the ministry we cannot be sure that Kretcher is entirely trustworthy. And so we must perform a series of charms to check that it is safe for us all to return and continue using the house as the Headquarters."

The boy seated in front of the wise old man had messy black hair and stunning emerald eyes. Just peeking out from under his fringe was a lightning bolt scar that had made him famous. His name was Harry Potter.

He shifted slightly at the mention of the 'incident' which even he was willing to admit was a catastrophe that had ended in several serious injuries, not to mention that he had practically (no matter how in-avertedly) lead his friends to their deaths. He already blamed himself completely for the injuries everyone had sustained. And to top it all off, he had nearly lost his only real remaining family, his godfather Sirius Black.

Of course he had the Dursley's but he didn't like to call them his family. Family were supposed to be the people who loved you and cared for you no matter what happened, which counted the Dursley's out straight away.

During the fight at the ministry Sirius had been duelling against the deranged Bellatrix Lestrange. Just when it had seemed like Sirius was winning Bellatrix threw a blazing orange spell which caught him straight in the chest. If it hadn't been for Remus he would have fallen through the Veil. Harry later found out that those who passed through the Veil never came out again. Though his injuries were extensive, after three weeks Sirius had been back on his feet, alive and well.

Harry looked up at the Headmaster noticing something in this plan that troubled him.

"But Professor, what if Kretcher isn't trustworthy anymore? I mean, what if he's already passed on the secrets? If he isn't loyal anymore what happens? Do we have to find a new Headquarters?" he furrowed his brow. He couldn't see a simple answer to these problems.

"Harry," Dumbledore smiled down at him, "do you think we haven't thought of this? It is a worry I'll admit. But we have a few plans lined up for such a scenario. Of course the obvious one is to order Kretcher to remain loyal and tell us everything. I think the plan as it stands is to apply three or four of the proposals we have come up with to strengthen the solution."

Harry nodded, still slightly concerned, but not enough to voice his worries.

"Now, if that's everything I must be getting back to work. We are to have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher again this year who will be arriving shortly. Thank you Harry, I hope that you, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley can keep yourselves entertained for the next few days before the rest of the students arrive."

Harry smiled his thanks and stood the leave the room as his Professor called back to him, "Oh Harry, could you please pass me the bronze object from within that cupboard?"

Next to the cabinet that held the pensive was a smooth mahogany tallboy. Harry grasped the shiny golden handle and gave it a twist. The wide door swung open, and a figure fell out.

Harry's seeker reflexes kicked in as he caught the figure before they hit the ground. He sent a bewildered look towards his headmaster, who was now striding around his desk and crouched in front of the mystery figure. It was a young girl, of around sixteen, with dark blonde hair. Her clothes were damp and she had a patchwork bag slung over her shoulder. With a concerned and cautious look on his face Dumbledore waved his wand over the girls head.

"She's still breathing," he muttered almost to himself, "some kind of trauma to the back of the skull. I don't recognise a magical signature."

Harry's gaze kept flicking between the unconscious body in this arms and the cupboard she'd fallen from. How on earth had she managed to fit in there? And more to the point how did she get there?

With another flick of his wand Dumbledore conjured a stretcher, which both he and Harry hurriedly laid the girl on. Without a word the stretcher began its journey floating down to the Hospital Wing.

**So how's that for the first chapter?**

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**x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, back again! **

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**A special thanks to YellowApple for being an unofficial beta with this one XD Thankoo Squirt :P**

**Disclaimer: Sorry guys, I still own nothing *audience groans in disappointment* Hey I'm working on it! ;-)**

**Right here's the next one, have fun!**

Chapter 2

Everything was kind of muffled and there was a dull roaring in my ears. It was as though I was sat underwater, _which would be more than a little bit worrying_, I thought frowning to myself. _I can't hold my breath for very long under water. And I'm far too tired to swim._

My train of thought followed this tangent for a few moments before I became vaguely away of the stifled sounds around me. I could here a few voices. I couldn't make out any details though; it was just the rumble of voices. Couldn't they keep it down? I was trying to sleep.

I was very grumpy at that moment and felt like I hadn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks. I then realised that I'd slept at Georgie's. So I could only blame Georgie, Izzy, Mia and Rosie for that. It was like they just didn't need to sleep. For most of the night we had danced and laughed and talked as though we had all the time in the world, which I suppose, in a way, we did.

It had been fun though, even if it had left me sleep deprived. But what I couldn't understand was how they weren't tired. They must have gotten even less sleep than me, and usually I can last pretty well without sleep compared to them.

I could picture them now, the four of them wrapped up in their colourful sleeping bags and thick duvets chattering away completely forgetting that I was sleeping, hence why they were being so noisy. They'd be sat around in a circle. And I'm sure they had involved me as a point in this circle. They often did. The rule was the first two people up started the circle and the next up followed etc. The last person was just left because the circle had been made so that there was no need for them to move. So considerate.

Mia, talking at full speed, sat with her legs crossed under her, with her dark plaits hanging past her ears. Rosie, a little worse for wear, with her short blonde hair sticking up all over the place, her make-up smeared across her face, panda-style. Izzy'll be laughing at Rosie's state, from the safety of her duvet cocoon, just her bright eyes and a tuft of dark red hair visible. Georgie smiling and laughing along but all the while keeping a chocolate brown eye on the girls, because we are more than a little bit clumsy in a morning. Georgie had probably already made everyone drinks, hot chocolate for Mia, Izzy and herself, and tea for me and Rosie.

She's a good host. Better than us lot anyway, we'd most likely leave our guests to pretty much fend for themselves. This is why we always sleep at Georgie's. We tried staying at Mia's once. That was chaotic. We won't be repeating the experience.

The voices were steadily getting louder; I would never get back to sleep if they carried on like this. I wondered who was sat closest to me. _Maybe if I reached out to smack them they'd hush up. _I listened again to the voices.

One was definitely male. I'd have guessed at older, as his voice was slower and deepest compared to the others. I frowned, a man? What was a man doing in Gee's living room? In my drowsy state I decided not to think about it too much, and brushed it away thinking it could be her brother, or her dad, or the postman. I never said my drowsy self made much sense. There were a few other voices that just kept mumbling away, completely ignoring the fact that I was trying to sleep over here.

A sharper voice started up and the others immediately shut up, shuffling as they were told off. _Thank God_, I thought snuggling back into the pillow under my cheek.

The rustling and shuffling stopped. The others remained deadly silent.

"I think she's awake," I heard a voice whisper. This one was female, and sounded slightly worried.

The tone of voice confused me, as none of the girls would worry about waking me. Other than being a bit grouchy for a few minutes I wasn't that bad in a morning.

Bright white light was burning through my eyelids, so I decided it was worth giving up on the idea of more sleep.

_Huh_, I thought to myself almost completely conscious by this point, _I'd never noticed how comfy the floor was in Gee's house._

It was then I realised something was up. I was definitely laid on a bed. There was a man; almost without doubt more than one, watching me sleep. _What the hell has happened?_

Suddenly it all came rushing back: the walk, the storm, the fight with my umbrella and then the strike on my head. My eyes snapped open and I sat up in a panic. My head smarted and throbbed even more in protest at the quick movement. I realised that was from where I'd been hit.

I was sat in a white room, the walls were lined with beds and there was a faint smell of disinfectant. There was no doubt in my mind that I was in a hospital of some kind.

Stood at the end of my bed was an elderly gentleman with long white hair and a matching beard. He was watching me inquisitively as though waiting for my next move. There were three people sat on the bed to my right, two boys and a girl staring at me with different degrees of anxiousness and curiosity on their faces.

The first boy, who was sat furthest away from me, was a lanky redhead with a scattering of freckles across his face. He looked very pale and he seemed quite nervous and jumpy. The girl was sat between them. She had thick, rather bushy brown hair that had been pushed behind her ears. She was leaning forward slightly with a look of concern and worry on her face. Sat closest to me was a boy with messy dark hair and shocking green eyes. He seemed more curious than anxious as he openly followed my every move. As my eyes met his he gave me a small smile.

The elderly gentleman cleared his throat so I turned my attention back to him.

"I'm sure this is all seems very strange to you," he started, "but do not worry. You are in safe hands. My name is Albus Dumbledore," My jaw dropped and I'm pretty sure I started stuttering some kind of nonsense, "And I am Headmaster of Hogwarts, which by the way is where you are now."

I stared at him. And I stared, and I stared.

A grin grew on my face, "Of course you are," I smiled at him. Ha ha. Hilarious and all that but I needed to find out where I was. This man had a very odd sense of humour, "Very funny sir. But could we just stop with the jokes please. I'm more than a little bit worried about where I am and how I got here and would like to get home as soon as possible."

He seemed to be surprised by my reaction and he took a step closer to my bed. The three teens sat on the other bed seemed to double take as I spoke.

"I'm sorry?" The so-called 'Headmaster' questioned.

I creased my brow as I watched him. Okay, so this man was more than a little bit of trouble. Oh Christ. What if he'd kidnapped me? He must have! How else would I have got here? And he thinks he's Dumbledore. So he's unhinged and quite possibly dangerous. Oh dear.

The man repeated his earlier question, "I'm sorry? I don't understand. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of this school. What is your name?"

I was getting more and more panicky the longer I thought about it. I jumped up and strode away from the bed, putting some space between myself and the madman. The teens also jumped up and stood across from me with the crazy guy.

"You are not Albus Dumbledore." I said watching him warily.

The others exchanged odd looks.

"Oh and why is that?" he asked me with an inquisitive look on his face.

I laughed nervously looking for an escape route, but not letting my eyes leave him for too long. Keep him talking, that was the plan.

"Because, it's not possible! It's a load of rubbish! He doesn't exist! Which means you wouldn't exist and yet here you are. So you can't be Dumbledore." My voice was wavering, in both anger and fear, so I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

"I assure you dear, I do exist-"

I interrupted before he could get any further, "But you can't! Not if you are who you say you are." I turned to the other three, my anger boiling over as I got more aggravated with the whole situation, "So, let me guess. You must be Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Of course you are! If I'm with Dumbledore, who else would it be? All I need now is Snape to swoop down, all snarky and grumpy. Then Voldie can march in for a fight. That would really make my day complete!"

My audience looked startled at my outburst, and even more shocked as I named their possible identities. The boy I had named as Harry Potter narrowed his eyes at me, "How do you know our names?"

Oh great. They were all playing along with it. Or maybe they really thought it was true. Oh dear. I'm not sure which would be worse.

I sighed, "Because I, like most of the people in the world, have read the books and seen the films. But that's all it is, stories!"

'Albus Dumbledore's' eyes seemed to twinkle behind his glasses. I had been pretty sure that wasn't even possible, but apparently it is. "So, you're saying that where you are from there are books about us?" I just gaped at him incredulously, "Is that what you are saying?"

"Yes, yes I am, er I mean is it." It's kind of spooky how convincing they were at being the characters. If I didn't catch myself I'm pretty sure I would have believed them without a second thought.

The twinkling in his eyes increased, "And what are these books called?"

I gave him a slight frown, "Harry Potter," I stopped myself from adding the 'duh' that had been on the tip of my tongue.

"I see," he was slowly nodding as though in understanding. But there was no way that he understood, not completely anyway. I mean I was confused and I had thought I had a pretty clear grasp on the situation, but obviously not.

The boy called Harry was staring at me incredulously, clearly not sure what to make of everything I'd said. I turned my attention back to the old man as he cleared his throat again.

"Now, you never did tell us your name,"

I wasn't sure what his motives were anymore. If he had kidnapped me, why would he keep up this act for so long? So I couldn't see the danger in answering a few of his questions, "Caitlyn. Caitlyn Harris."

"Well then Caitlyn. I know this will sounds strange and I highly doubt that you will believe me, but it appears that you are from a world different to our own. In this world everything in your book, assuming it is accurate, is real. I am Albus Dumbledore. This is Hogwarts. And magic is real."

I think at this point I nearly fainted. I had to remind myself to breathe, 'cause that's a pretty important part of staying conscious. I know it sounds stupid but once he'd said it so bluntly, I believed him. It's pretty hard not to, I mean, I know not a lot of people have met Dumbledore, but he kind of has this aura about him that screams calm and in-control but with a mass of power thrown into the mix.

"Oh," I responded weakly, "Oh okay then."

Dumbledore fixed me with a look of concern, "Are you feeling alright Miss Harris? You are looking rather pale."

"Huh," a smile crept across my face, _Dumbledore cared, awww, _"Yes. Yeah, I'm just great. Feel like I'm about to collapse, but other than that I feel perfect."

The Headmaster and the three students took a few steps closer to me in an attempt to herd me back towards the bed. But no matter how I was feeling, there was no way they could get me back into that bed.

I had so many questions: about them and about Hogwarts, and magic, and flying and wands and – but that could all wait, I needed to start with the basics.

"Erm... Mr Dumbledore? I mean, Professor, Sir? How is it possible? I mean, not that I don't believe you or anything, but could you show me some magic or something?" I couldn't believe how rude I felt asking, but how could I not?

"Of course Miss Harris," he agreed with a bow.

With a flick of his wrist the chair next to one of the beds was transformed into a lion. I mean a real live lion. It sat proudly shaking its mane, before letting out a loud roar. I gasped and jumped back in shock. Mid-roar the lion popped out of existence and was replaced with the rickety wooden chair. I'm sure my mouth was hanging wide open and I was doing a pretty good impression of a goldfish.

"Okay, I believe it all completely now," I nodded faintly, looking up at the greatest wizard that ever lived.

The elderly man smiled and his eyes continued to twinkle, "I'm glad we cleared that up."

I cast a wary eye over at the rest of my audience, "So what are you three doing here? No wait! Don't tell me! You found me? Did I fall out of the sky? Or maybe I just appeared in a puff of smoke or a flash of light? And _of course_ you guys would be the ones to find me. It's impossible for anything weird to happen around here and you three not be involved in some way." I sighed playfully with my hands on my hips.

It took me a few seconds to realise how odd it must sound for them to hear me talk as though I knew them. Obviously I felt like I did already know them, but it would be a little bit weird for them to know that. The grin on my face dimmed at the lack of response from the Golden Trio.

As soon as my smile dropped the three seemed to be spurred into action. They appeared to relax ever so slightly and started to laugh at my probing. I allowed my smile to return even though I was unsure whether they were laughing because I was right, or because it sounded like a likely scenario.

Ron and Harry raised their eyebrows and shared a look of humorous indignation.

"Why do people always think we're gunna be around when there's trouble? You'd think we caused problems the way they carry on," Ron exclaimed throwing his arms in the air.

Hermione laughed at the red-heads dramatics and gave me a warm smile, her cheeks dimpling, "I suppose that's only to be expected nowadays. After all we _are_ almost always in trouble. Well, you are anyway Harry."

Harry threw her a look portraying his outrage, "It's not my fault! It's not like I go looking for trouble, if anything trouble goes looking for me!"

I couldn't help my own giggle, "So are you saying you guys didn't find me?"

Hermione threw them a triumphant look, and even Ron let out a bark-like laugh pointing at his dark haired friend, "She has a point Harry."

Harry pulled a face at being proved wrong, but it passed and he smiled at me sheepishly, "Well yeah, okay. I found you. Well, you turned up when I was in Professor Dumbledore's office."

I frowned, not where I had expected to have been found. And not really all that exciting either. Harry noticed the look and after a glance at Dumbledore, who nodded, carried on explaining.

"I was going to get something from the cupboard for Professor Dumbledore. When I opened the door you fell out," he couldn't help but smile at the anti-climatic explanation, "It's lucky that I even caught you and..."

He trailed off as he looked back at my face. My earlier confusion had resurfaced and had been joined by slight disappointment and more than a little bit of anger. _Why did this happen to me? And it couldn't happen at any other time could it? _I thought angrily, _so bloody typical. First I get trapped in a storm, I get smacked on the head, and then end up in some kind of alternative universe all on my own and didn't even get a proper entrance! No smoke, no flashes of light, no big bang. No. I fell out of a bloody wardrobe. Typical._

The others seemed to notice my silent fuming and Harry, being the brave soul he is, took a step closer.

"Caitlyn? What's wrong?" He took cautious step closer, obviously not prepared for the explosion that was about to take place. I snapped.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! Here I am in what is suppose to be a made-up world, with made-up places and made-up characters, and here you are walking and talking. People would think I was absolutely crazy if I told them. I'd be locked up! But no, that doesn't matter, because here you are! How on earth should I know what's real and what's not anymore?

That's not all, not by a long shot, I'm going to be late for tea, Mum and Dad will freak when I don't get home on time, if I ever get home at all. The girls will be waiting for me to ring about tomorrow because we're suppose to go see a movie, but no that won't be happening anymore. Who knows if I'll ever see any of them ever again? They'll never know what happened to me!

Not only that but my head hurts, I'm totally lost and on top of all that when I turned up in this stupid world I fell out of a frickin' wardrobe! A wardrobe! What the hell? I was unconscious the whole time, so for all I know I went through bloody Narnia! I mean seriously!" I fell silent as I ran out of steam and my rant came to an end.

I was still fuming but I forced myself to breathe some more. I cast a wary look at the group, kind of scared to see their reaction to my latest outburst. Honestly, I'm not usually this temperamental. It must be the stress of the whole thing. And the bump to my head. Oh, and the sleep deprivation. God, I felt awful.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked shocked and were completely still, as though they didn't dare speak. Dumbledore was regarding me shrewdly with his twinkly eyes. After a few moments a look of concern crossed his features.

Just as he opened his mouth, a womanly shriek echoed from the other end of the room. We spun around and I was meted with the sight of a stern looking woman with iron grey hair marching towards us. I say us, but she seemed dead set on reaching me. Shaking her finger in my direction, she started to lecture the trio on the health of her patients. Ah, Madam Pomfrey.

"Not only shouldn't she be getting into this kind of a state, but she shouldn't even be out of bed! This is why I don't let you children visit after hours. And I don't care if these are exceptional circumstances, you do not disregard my instructions!"

I was watching her slightly open-mouthed. It was like watching a captain lecture his troops. From the way the other three had hung their heads it was obvious that Madam Pomfrey's tongue lashings weren't that pleasant and they had suffered through them before.

After a few minutes of this tirade she turned to the headmaster shaking her head.

"Of course I understand your need to talk to her Headmaster, but I need her to recover as quickly as possible, and I won't have anyone slowing down her recovery time."

And with that she herded me towards the bed, successfully and without much of a fight from me I might add. I climbed into the bed and settled down with a tired sigh. It was then I decided that I loved this woman. She was fussing around, tucking me in. As she was complaining about the state I had turned up in ("Soaking wet, freezing cold, it's a miracle you didn't catch pneumonia") she handed me a vial. Without a second thought I downed it, after all she'd helped me more in five minutes than anyone had in the last half hour, so I had no reason to doubt her now. Turned out it was some kind of sleep potion. My eyes grew heavy and the thudding in my head slowed and quietened.

I saw the fuzzy outline of Dumbledore lean towards me, "I will check up on you tomorrow, but I know you are in capable hands. We have fixed some accommodation for you during your stay, but that can wait until tomorrow. Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger will come collect you and show you around the castle. I am sure they are more than willing to help you out for the duration of your stay."

I tried to respond, and perhaps apologise for my earlier outbursts, but all that came out was a garbled sigh.

The shapes and outlines faded away, as my thoughts slipped towards sleep with my last coherent thought, "stupid bloody wardrobe."

**Yay! Second one done! Haha can't believe how hard it was to write this one. I mean seriously, how would you react to something like this? I kinda took a wild guess and this is what I came up with, so I hope it seemed realistic-ish.**

**Right guys, next time we introduce Caitlyn to the rest of Hogwarts and some of its inhabitants.**

**Okay, favourite-ing and alerting is great, but reviews are love!**

**Til next time, peace out :D**

**xx**


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